


together and alone

by amybri2002



Series: pride month!!! [29]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Human AU, M/M, roman just wants to be loved :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24981664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amybri2002/pseuds/amybri2002
Summary: Roman has dated hundreds of people, but only ever fallen in love once. It just so happens that that one person managed to slip away.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: pride month!!! [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769050
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	together and alone

**Author's Note:**

> day twenty nine!!! today’s prompt was ‘the one that got away’. i wasn’t entirely sure how to interpret that b u t i wrote this and had a fun time, sooo i hope y’all enjoy!!!

Roman dated a lot of people.

It wasn’t something he did consciously, although some people certainly thought that. He didn’t want to date everyone on the planet, even though that’s what everyone else thought his plan was. Still, he found himself with a new person almost every other week, a new face to fantasise over, a new hand to hold. Boys, girls, everyone in between. Afterwards, Roman rarely remembered their names, and never remembered their faces.

He’d let them go, rather quickly. A few dates, maybe, a kiss in the park or a cuddle on his sofa, but never anything serious. He’d been out with hundreds of people before, and yet had never once fallen in love. He tried, he tried so hard to love somebody, to love anybody, but there was nothing. So he tried again and again, whenever someone left he’d just find someone new. It wasn’t difficult, there was always someone who’d want to be with him, he just... wished he would be able to reciprocate those feelings for someone else. 

It wasn’t as if he hated being single. In truth, Roman didn’t even care about being in a relationship. More than anything, he hated the idea of being alone. So he surrounded himself with love, surrounded himself with people who would give him attention, and try to give those people attention back, there just... wasn’t anyone for him.

Well, there was one person, once. A boy, by the name of Patton. They’d met in a coffee shop and dated for around two weeks - longer than most of Roman’s relationships, actually. They’d talked, a lot, stayed up till four in the morning watching movies together, hung out every day at that same coffee shop. Patton was the first person that Roman could actually imagine spending the rest of his life with - he was sweet, and kind, and beautiful, and saw the world through different eyes, made Roman aware of all the amazing things he was missing in life. Whenever Roman laid eyes on Patton, his heart would flutter, and that perfect smile, that happy sparkle in his eyes had never left Roman’s mind.

But that relationship had ended almost as quickly as it started. Patton had to move away, across the country. The night he left Roman had cried, cried for hours. He’d never cried over a break up before. He supposed... Most of his break ups were inevitably, his relationships were rarely born of a desire to fall in love with one another, to spend the rest of his life with that person, but with Patton it had. He... If they had had more time together, Roman imagined he would have fallen in love with Patton, lived happily ever after.

But Patton had a life of his own, and Roman didn’t want to hold him back. Roman himself wasn’t entirely willing to do long distance - he needed someone there with him, to hold him, or just to talk to face to face. Long distance wouldn’t make Roman happy, and in turn Patton would be unhappy. And besides, Patton deserved to get out there and find the one for him, a new love, one he could be with for real. Roman missed him, he missed him so much, but he hoped that Patton was happy, that Patton had found his own knight in shining armour, that he’d fallen in love and gotten his happy ending. Even if Roman would never get that for himself.

After Patton left, Roman found himself drifting back into his old routine. A new partner every week or so, only staying around for a couple days before moving on, staring at his ceiling and thinking of Patton with another’s arm around his chest, kissing strangers and dancing with acquaintances, numb to romance but desperately craving it.

One afternoon, Roman found himself in that coffee shop again, waiting for someone new to show up. Some girl he’d met on Tinder the night before, he was pretty sure her name was Valerie, or something like that. He stared at the door, waiting for her to walk in, as his coffee slowly grew colder. She was ten minutes late by now, and Roman was beginning to question whether she’d even turn up - a lot of them didn’t, and Roman never really cared.

A familiar face walked through the door. Not the girl he’d spoken to, or even any of his exes. No, that was...

His eyes widened. Patton? But that... He’d moved away? Unless- Unless Roman was just imagining him, or mixing him up for someone else, or...

Patton locked eyes with him, realisation also spread across his face. Roman felt his phone buzz in his pocket, but ignored it, as he stood up and made his way over to Patton, floating through the air against his will, not that he was complaining, exactly. Patton stepped towards him as well, taking out one headphone and tilting his lips up into a smile. He looked almost exactly like how Roman remembered, down to the freckles on his cheeks.

“Roman, you-“

“Patton,” Roman breathed, smiling now himself. “I-“

The two stood facing each other in silence for a while, before Patton quickly told Roman that he was going to get a drink, and that he’d join him in a moment. Roman nodded and returned to his seat, leg bouncing up and down in anticipation. It had been ages since he last saw Patton, and now...

Roman took his phone out his pocket whilst he waited, noting that the girl he’d been planning on meeting up with had cancelled - that was good, maybe that was a sign from whatever higher power was up there. Eventually, Patton returned, sitting down opposite him and sliding a drink his way.

“You still like caramel frapuccinos, right?” Patton asked.

Roman grinned. “Yeah! It’s still my favourite, actually.”

Patton giggled. “Yeah, you ordered this every single date we- I mean, everyone time we hung out.”

Roman hummed. “Yeah. And you’d always order something different.”

“I wanted to try all of them!” Patton defended. “To find out which one was best!”

Roman smiled at him, and, for a few moments, they just continued smiling at each other, almost as though they were making up for all those lost smiles over the years. Eventually, Patton glanced down at the table, and Roman reached out a hand. Smiling again, Patton twisting his fingers around Roman’s, squeezed his hand tight.

“I missed you, y’know?” Roman said, softly.

Patton glanced up, tears beginning to form in his eyes. “I... I missed you as well.”

Back to smiling. Fond smiles. Happiness in the air around them.

Roman cleared his throat. “So, uh, what brings you back here?”

“Oh, I moved back to the city a few days ago,” Patton explained. “For work reasons. They transferred me back here, it’s kind of a mystery for me as well.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Thought I’d stop by here again, I missed this place. You?”

“Oh, uh...” Roman wasn’t entirely sure how to phrase this without ruining his second shot with Patton. Assuming he even had a shot - for all he knew, Patton was already in another relationship. Well, he supposed it was better to just get it out. “I was actually on a date.” He couldn’t help but notice Patton’s face fall. “But! Said date actually just cancelled, which is nice. So...”

There was silence for a moment, before Patton perked up again. “If you’re still... looking for a date, you may want to know that I am currently single.”

Roman looked into his eyes, blush forming across his cheeks. Did that mean- 

“Unless you aren’t interested anymore, of course,” Patton said. “I... It’s been a while, I know. And, uh-“

“I’d love to rekindle our relationship, Patton,” Roman said, moving his other hand across the table as well, so all of their fingers were intertwined.

Patton just smiled, a relieved look on his face. Perhaps Patton had been missing Roman just as much as Roman had been missing him. “I’m never leaving again.”


End file.
